The first historical "Sake Summit," sponsored by the International Sake Institute in New York City this past May 3-4, was meant to showcase two things:

1. What a beautiful and fine wine (albeit, made from rice rather than grapes) sake can be.

2. How far along American produced sakes have come in comparison to Japanese sakes.

Alas, in a blind professional tasting matching 21 Japanese sakes against 12 upstarts from the U.S., plus 3 from Australia, the Japanese products generally proved to have the upper hand in finesse, balance, sheer flavor and pizzaz. There was to be no shocking upset recalling the 1976 Paris Tasting (when a couple of American wines were judged to be finer than some France's most famous wines). I know, because I was one of the eight judges. The American and Australian sakes did not come nearly as close as the scores suggest.

Besides myself, one of the judges was Haruo Matsuzaki; considered a national treasure in Japan because of his ability to identify, in blind tastings, as many as 1,635 different sakes. Another one of the judges was an American named John Gauntner who lives in Japan, but whose "sake palate" is so well respected that he writes the sake column for the Japan Times.

How do you judge sakes? Matsuzaki says he always looks for "smoothness," although I noted that he also appreciates "true" sake aromas - something akin to honeydew melon and roasted nuts, with "natural" nuances reminiscent of green meadows, bubbling brooks, etc. Gauntner talks about "umami" - that Japanese sense of deliciousness that you feel when all components gel and activate all the senses, from the nose to all parts of the palate.

The sake judging was divided into two classes: the first made up of Daiginjo (pronounced "die-gin-joe," the second syllable like "begin") or "ultra-premium" sakes; and the second group made up of less expensive Ginjo or "premium" sakes. These are the finest sakes made in the world today; which are always served well chilled (heating up fine sakes would be like boiling your Chardonnay), and are best tasted in a tulip shaped wine glass (although like wine, tumblers and glass slippers would do in a pinch).

Just about all of the following sakes are available in specialty stores in major U.S. cities. Without further ado, here's how they were rated, along with the judges' average scores based upon a contemporary 100 point scale, plus approximate retail prices and bottle sizes: